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Homelessness Is Good — for Some

Why the Uphill Climb to Ending Homelessne$$?

Diane Nilan
6 min readJul 6, 2021
Who loses in an eviction? Photo Diane Nilan

Ask yourself, with all the “End Homelessness in 10 Year” campaigns, why hasn’t it happened?

Homelessness is good for the economy. It’s a profit-making venture. Too bad for the human carnage.

Without getting all Robert Reich-y on you, let me point out a few areas where homelessness is profitable.

STORAGE UNITS

storage units
Storage units Photo Diane Nilan

Almost every newly-homeless family I’ve interviewed in my 15 years of HEAR US travels as I’ve chronicled hundreds of stories, the parent will talk about putting their stuff in storage. While this makes certain sense in limited situations, it boils down to paying to store what you’re eventually going to lose.

This growth industry shows no signs of easing, even according to this pre-pandemic article. “There are an estimated 45,000 storage facilities across the country, and new construction has tripled in the past five years. There is now an estimated 6.5 square feet of self-storage space for every person in America.

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Diane Nilan
Diane Nilan

Written by Diane Nilan

Founder/pres. HEAR US Inc., gives voice & visibility to homeless families & youth, ran shelters, advocate, filmmaker, author, 20 yrs. on US backroads. hearus.us

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